Sheriff: Naked man threatened to bomb Florida airport

“We gotta get out of here; a bomb is about to go off!” the suspect was reported to have screamed after deputies apprehended him. “I planted a bomb in the bathroom!”

By Frank Fernandez and Tony HoltGatehouse Media Florida

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A naked man screamed “a bomb is about to go off” after running out of a women’s restroom at Daytona Beach International Airport on Friday morning and trying to crawl through the opening of a baggage carousel.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office released a video of the arrest, which shows the suspect — naked from the ankles up — emerging from the opening in the wall and starting to run away from law enforcement.

Deputies subdued the man with a Taser and arrested him without a fight.

“We gotta get out of here; a bomb is about to go off!” the suspect was reported to have screamed after deputies apprehended him. “I planted a bomb in the bathroom!”

The airport was evacuated around 7:30 a.m. — a little more than an hour after the nude man’s rant — and a bomb squad and a pair of K-9 units from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office searched the area for two hours before customers and employees were allowed back inside.

More than 200 people, mostly travelers, hand to wait outside the terminal until the all-clear was given after 9:30 a.m.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood said deputies arrested 25-year-old John T. Greenwood, of Daytona Beach, who was charged with burglary, false report concerning planting a bomb, criminal mischief, resisting arrest without violence, exposure of sexual organs and unlawful possession of personal identification of another person.

Previous to Friday’s arrest, Greenwood had been taken into involuntary custody under the state’s Baker Act for mental evaluation at least twice, the sheriff said.

“Greenwood is a frequent flyer,” Chitwood said of the suspect, meaning he has had numerous run-ins with police. “He is well known to law enforcement.”

The body-camera video released by the sheriff’s office shows the man sitting down near the carousel ignoring orders to lie down on his stomach. Deputies deployed at least one stun gun on him and kept telling him to stop resisting. Deputies also kept asking him what kind of substances he had taken.

Greenwood eventually informed deputies he had ingested ecstasy and other drugs Thursday night. As of Friday morning, he remained at Halifax Health Medical Center, Chitwood said.

At the end of the arrest video, Greenwood could be heard telling deputies, “I don’t need (an ambulance), man. I do not. I just want to get out of here, bro. I’m naked.”

A bomb-detecting robot was used to scan the area in the bathroom where Greenwood had placed his backpack. Chitwood said it contained clothes and no incendiary devices.

Greenwood created or enlarged a hole in the bathroom wall and placed his belongings inside, Chitwood said.

Greenwood was arrested nine months ago on charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, battery on an emergency medical care provider and resisting an officer with violence. According to the arrest report, Greenwood called 911, stating he was having a diabetic issue.

When paramedics and Daytona Beach police arrived, he told them he was a drug addict and had taken too much Adderall, a stimulant intended to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He was placed in the back of an ambulance and was observed “throwing punches” at an emergency responder.

During his arrest last September, police deployed a Taser four times in an effort to subdue Greenwood, who continued to “throw punches and kick his feet” while officers attempted to handcuff him, the report states. He is scheduled to stand trial in June.

Greenwood was charged in 2011 with possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia but was not prosecuted.

Witnesses interviewed Friday morning at the airport said a man emerged from an airport bathroom nude and started making bomb threats.

The evacuation went smoothly after the announcement came over the public-announcement system, witnesses said. Everyone was calm and organized. After everyone was outside, word got around about what had just happened at baggage claim.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Anne Pope, who manages the cafes inside the airport. “Usually they close a small area if they find (an unattended) bag, but I’ve never seen them empty out the whole terminal.”

Airport staff provided transportation to a separate building for those who needed to use the bathroom, witnesses said.

After the first hour, some travelers were getting impatient. They were calling loved ones on their phones and also contacting American and Delta airlines to make sure they could still get a connecting flight out of Charlotte, North Carolina, or Atlanta, respectively.

“My sister is getting married tomorrow,” said Daniel Sandman, 22, a student at the University of Dayton who was in Daytona Beach for a school trip. “I was about 10 minutes from boarding when they told us to evacuate. … I was bummed.”

Two flights were delayed, according to the airport’s schedule: an American Airlines flight to Charlotte was postponed an hour and a Delta flight to Atlanta scheduled for departure at 7:10 a.m. was pushed back nearly three hours.

Frank Fernandez and Tony Holt are reporters for The Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal.